Redeemed from Darkness into Glorious Light
Just this past Sunday, we launched into a new sermon series called Salvation. The more I ponder the depths of our redemption, the more I stand in awe at His beautiful picture. Every time I come across this word now in my Bible reading time, I think about “release by means of payment” – that we went free because someone stayed behind and took our place. We were released because someone gave Himself as a ransom for us, someone who was willing to take the pain and the suffering (Hebrews 5:1, 8-9).
I pray that we all come to a fuller understanding and appreciation of redemption right in our own current situations. May we look at our freedom and know how costly was its price. Because none of us were there to witness this event happened over two thousand years ago. We know of it as we read about it in the Word and we even understand the theological significance of it. But when has it last broken our hearts? When has it last brought tears to our eyes? Has it impacted us as it truly should? Has it changed the course of our days that no matter how bad a day may turn, we know that we could have it even worse, and the reason it is not is because He took our place and ransomed us out from that darkness and hopelessness. He brought us into a loving relationship with the one true God, who deeply cares for us. No matter what suffering we face, no matter what circumstance we are in, we get to live our lives as the children of God Most High.
Psalm 107:14 reads “He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.” And again, in Colossians 1:13 “For he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Do we realize how deep this truth is? He purchased us out from that domain of darkness with the costliest price, His own life. We say so easily that the Lord “touched our lives”, either during a time or worship, or during a sermon, or during a time of prayer, but do we see that those same hands are nail-scarred hands, for us. How beautiful our Lord and Savior! How deep His love is towards us! But too often we carry on with our daily lives, really not grasping the depth of this at all, even flirting with darkness and compromise, undermining the depth of what the Lord did for us. It is the season now where darkness and death, the occult and witchcraft get celebrated packaged as family fun. As I drive through my own neighborhood, my heart is heavy with the celebration of darkness, though many of them are Christians. Was it not for the sake of redeeming us out of this darkness that our Savior suffered and paid the ultimate price? He paid it with his own life, that darkness may no longer have a hold on us. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)
I wonder then if the depth and beauty of our Redemption is really understood and appreciated? And my prayer in this season is that the Lord would truly show us the gravity of what he did for us. How personal it was for him towards us, and how much we are still lacking in our personal affection for Him.
I pray that we all come to a fuller understanding and appreciation of redemption right in our own current situations. May we look at our freedom and know how costly was its price. Because none of us were there to witness this event happened over two thousand years ago. We know of it as we read about it in the Word and we even understand the theological significance of it. But when has it last broken our hearts? When has it last brought tears to our eyes? Has it impacted us as it truly should? Has it changed the course of our days that no matter how bad a day may turn, we know that we could have it even worse, and the reason it is not is because He took our place and ransomed us out from that darkness and hopelessness. He brought us into a loving relationship with the one true God, who deeply cares for us. No matter what suffering we face, no matter what circumstance we are in, we get to live our lives as the children of God Most High.
Psalm 107:14 reads “He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.” And again, in Colossians 1:13 “For he has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Do we realize how deep this truth is? He purchased us out from that domain of darkness with the costliest price, His own life. We say so easily that the Lord “touched our lives”, either during a time or worship, or during a sermon, or during a time of prayer, but do we see that those same hands are nail-scarred hands, for us. How beautiful our Lord and Savior! How deep His love is towards us! But too often we carry on with our daily lives, really not grasping the depth of this at all, even flirting with darkness and compromise, undermining the depth of what the Lord did for us. It is the season now where darkness and death, the occult and witchcraft get celebrated packaged as family fun. As I drive through my own neighborhood, my heart is heavy with the celebration of darkness, though many of them are Christians. Was it not for the sake of redeeming us out of this darkness that our Savior suffered and paid the ultimate price? He paid it with his own life, that darkness may no longer have a hold on us. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55)
I wonder then if the depth and beauty of our Redemption is really understood and appreciated? And my prayer in this season is that the Lord would truly show us the gravity of what he did for us. How personal it was for him towards us, and how much we are still lacking in our personal affection for Him.
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